The Politics of Memory in Ukraine in 2014: Removal of the Soviet Cultural Legacy and Euromaidan Commemorations

Andriy Liubarets

Abstract

The year 2014 brought great social and cultural disruptions to Ukraine. Euromaidan, the annexation of Crimea, and war in the Donbas led to significant social and political changes, with crucial transformations in the Ukrainians’ historical memory playing an important role in them. Public appeals to history accompanied most political processes in 2014 and were always used for self-legitimization by both sides of the conflict. Changes in attitude towards the Soviet cultural and historical legacy and the formation of a new memory about Euromaidan (“the invention of tradition”) might be considered as a major shift in this field. The aim of this article is to observe and analyze major trends of the politics of memory in Ukraine in 2014 and early 2015.

Bernhard, Michael, and Jan Kubik, eds. Twenty Years after Communism: The Politics of Memory and Commemoration. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2014.

Decree of the President of Ukraine № 1086/2010 “On the Institute of National Remembrance.” Accessed November 3, 2015. http://zakon4.rada.gov.ua/laws/show/1086/2010.

Decree of the President of Ukraine № 69/2015 “On Honoring the Feat of Members of the Revolution of Dignity and Commemorating Heroes of the Heavenly Hundred.” Accessed November 5, 2015. http://www.president.gov.ua/documents/18915.html.

Decree of the President of Ukraine № 966/1999 “On the Day of Ukrainian Cossaks.” Accessed November 4, 2015. http://zakon1.rada.gov.ua/laws/show/966/99.

“Pereimenuvaty vulytsi z radianskymy nazvamy ne skladno i ne doroho [It is not Difficult and Not Expensive to Rename Streets with Soviet Names].” Official Website of the Ukrainian Institute of National Remembrence. Accessed November 6, 2015. http://www.memory.gov.ua/news/pereimenuvati-vulitsyu-z-radyanskimi-nazvami-ne-skladno-i-ne-dorogo-institut-natsionalnoi-pam-yati.